If Jason trudged to the shower post-stream or made his amazing morning pancakes with a distant look in his eyes, I could be pretty sure he’d played terribly. If he popped in to our son’s room at 8 a.m. with his eyes big and his arms out for a toddler-sized hug, I knew he and his viewers had had a blast.

The longer I write, the more I believe that all our anxiety about the companies that both power and manipulate our digital universe can be summed up in one big problem: They know too much. And we don’t know enough.

How many digital devices are within five feet of you right now? Is your phone one of them? Are you reading this on your phone? Do you want to check another app for a second, then come back? What’s new in your world? Everything OK? Should we continue?